Hydraulic-elevator plant.



C. 0. PBARSON.

HYDRAULIC ELBVATOR PLANT.

APPLIUATION FILED 11011.23. 190s.

anented Dec. 19, 1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Tb Ui C. 0. PBARSN.

HYDRAUL BLEVATOR PLANT.

APPLICATION FILED Nov` 23, 1908.

Patented Dec. 1'9, 1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

U. 0. PBARSON.

HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR PLANT.

APPLIGATION FILED Nov.23,19oa.

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

5 SHEETSSHEET 3 s L l'o .TI N

0. 0. PEARSON.

HYDRAULG ELBVATGR PLANT.

APPLIGATEON FILED 11011.23. 19119.`

Patented Deo. 19, 1911.

5 SHEETS UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES 0. PEARSON, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB. TO OTIS ELEVATOBCOMPANY, 0F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

HYDRAULIC-ELEVATOR PLANT.

4Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES O. PEAnsoN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, cityand State of New York, United States of America, have invented certainnew and useful -Improvements in Hydraulic- Elevator Plants, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to elevators which are run by hydraulic or otherfluid pressure, and its object is to provide an installation ofapparatus of this kind which shall have advantages over those heretoforeknown in the art.

I'will describe my invention in the following specification and pointout the novel features thereof in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly insection, of an elevator installation madeV according to my invention.The elevator pro er in this figure is drawn on a smaller relative scalethan the other parts of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a lan view of thepumping apparatus, with its cover broken away, toget er with theelevator valve, and a part of the driving engine. In Fi 3 I have shownin sectional side elevation t e elevator valve and some of its connectedparts, and in Fig. 4 the upper portion of this valve is shown insectional end elevation. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the elevator valveand some of its connected parts. 6 is a sectional end elevation of thepum lng apparatus with the elevator valve in icated in dotted lines toshow its relative position to the other parts. VThis section is taken onthe line 6-6 of Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a .sectionalY side elevation of thepumpin apparatus, vand Fig. 8 a similar view o a part of thepump-regulating mechanism, the sections in these figures be ing taken onthe lines 7-7 and 8 8, respectively, of Fig. 6. In'Fig. 9 I have shownin side elevation an elevator installation made according to amodification of my inven tion. In this figure the car and a part of theelevator proper are drawn in section. Fig. 10 is a sectional endVelevation of the form of pumping apparatus which is shown in Fig. 9.The section in this figure is taken on the line X-'X of Fig. 11, and theposition of the elevator valve is indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 11shows this pumping apparatus and the elevator valve in plan view withthe pumping apparatus shown in section on the line Y-Y of Fig. 10. Fig.12 is a plan view of a portion of the pumping apparatus.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of thefigures.

I have shown this invention in combination with an elevator of theplunger type, of which 10 designates the car which is arranged to be runover guides 1l. L 12 is the plun er to the upper end of which a car isattac ied. This plunger is extended downward through a stuiing box 13into a cylinder 14, to which a supply and exhaust pipe 15 is connected.These parts are well-known and need no further description.

2O designates a prime mover for supplyin motive power to the elevatorwhich, in this case, is 'shown as a four-cylinder fourcycle gasoleneengine,

21 is a gasolene supply pipe leading from a supply tank, not shown, to acarburetor 22.

23 1s the supply or intake pipe of the engine leading from thecarburetor.

24 is a circulating pump drivenvby the engine and arranged to forcewater through a pipe 25 to the cooling jacket of the engine. 26 is thereturn pipe for this water which may be connected to the suction end' ofthe pump at 27. l Y

28 is a fan belt-driven by the engine, `which fan may also be providedfor cooling the engine by forcing a current of air over a portion of itsparts.

29 is a spark-timer ratus of the en ine.

30"is a shatgt directly coupled with the for the ignition appaengineshaft and arranged to drive thepumping apparatus. y

31 is a casing which'surrounds the pumping apparatus and supportscertain parts thereof. The lowery part of this casing forms a reservoir32 for water or other suitable iuid and is closed at the bottom by apart which forms a pressure chamber 33.

34 designatesone of the pump cylinders. Four of these are shown as thlsis a referred number, but I do not wish to limit myself in any way tothis or any other numhei' of e linders. Their driving eccentries areequall spaced about the rshaft 30 so .as to cause tlie pump to have assteady a discharge as practicable. As these pump cylinders and theirassociated parts are substantially alike in construction, I willdescribe these parts in conjunction with but one of them. 35 is anoutlet valve between the reservoir 32 and the bottom of this cylinder.

36 is an outlet valve between the bottom of the cylinder and thepressure chamber 37 is a piston, and 38 its piston-rod which isverticallyA guided by a bearing 39. The upper end of this rod isconnected with or is constructed to form a slidable cross-head block 40.This slidable crosshead block is fitted into a groove within a segmentaladjusting member 41 which is supported upon and actuated by the shaft 30in the peculiar manner which I will now point out. One of its ends isconnected by a rod 42 with a collar 43 which is concentrically disposedupon the shaft. Its other end is connected by a rod 44 with a collar 45,which collar is eecentrically mounted upon the shaft 30.

When the parts are in the positions in which they "are shown in Fig. 6,one end of the member 41 will be reci rocated from its position shown bythe ful lines to that indicated by the dotted lines b the eccentriccollar 45, but no movement wi l be imparted to the piston 37. When thesegmental adjusting member `is rotated about the shaft 30 thisreciprocatory movement-is imparted to the piston 37 in an increasingamount until the full stroke of the eccentric 45 is applied to thepiston, which be the case when the rod 44 is directly above the pistonrod 38. The length of the piston,stroke may therefore be varied anydesired amount from zero to the eccentrieity of the collar 45.

46 is a regulating shaft which 'is cut up into sections and upon whichare a series of disks 47. These disks are joined together by pins 48,each of which is connected by a link 49 with 'one` of the segmentaladjusting members 41. It may be seen that the positions of all of themembers 41--and consequently the length of stroke of the pumppistons-may be varied at will by rotating this shaft 46.

50 is an elevator valve which is arranged to be manually operated fromthe car 10 by any desired means, such, for example, as a simplehand-rope 16 running through the car within reach of an o erator, andailixed to a valve sheave 51 whic is fastened to the end of a shaft 52.17 is a guiding sheave for this hand-rope. The shaft 52 is in alinementwith the regulating shaft 46 and is directly connected therewith so that'the regulation,y before mentioned, of the pumping apparatus may beeffected by means of the hand-rope 16. A gear 53 which is keyed to theshaft |52 is in mesh with a toothed rack 54. This rack is upon the upperend of the piston rod 55 of the valve or is a continuation thereof. Thevalve cylinder is designated by 56, and 57, 58 and 59 are three pistonswithin this cylinder,rigidly mounted upon the piston rod 55.

60 designates a supply tank which is connected with the pump reservoir32 by means of 'a pipe 61.

62 is a pipe connecting the pressure tank 33 of the pump with the valvecylinder 56 at a ort which is between pistons 58 and 59, wlien the valveis closed.

63is a pipe from the elevator valve at a port between the pistons 57 and58 to the pump reservoir 32.

The engine 2O is started when the elevator valve 50 is in its central orclosed position. There will then be no load on the engine as theposition of the regulating shaft will be such as to prevent movement ofthe pump pistons, so that the only Work the engine will be called u onto perform will be the movement of t e ,adjusting members 41. The en inemay, therefore, be started easily and Wi l continue to run with theconsumptionof but little fuel. It may be provided with any of thewell-known speed-regulating devices so that it will run at asubstantially constant rate of speed. Now, if it is desired to run theelevator-car upward the operator will pull the rope 16 downward. Thiswill cause the piston rod 55 to be raised to open a passage between thepipes 62 and 15, and at the same time will rotate the regulating shaft46 an amount proportional, to the amount which the rope 16 has beenmoved. By means of the mechanism which I have described this will causethe pump pistons 37 to be reciprocated by the engine through a desiredlength of stroke, and this will cause the water from the reservoir 32 tobe pumped into the pressure chamber 33 and, t rough thevalve 50,'intotheelevator cylinder 14 under ressure. This ressure, acting upon the punger 12, will orce the car up until the valve 50 is closed. Animportant feature of this arrangement is that the pressure, acting uponthe elevator plunger, may be varied at will to suit the requirements ofload and speed. This is because the operator may open the elevator valveand may shift the link mechanism of the pumping apparatus but a little.The effect of this will be to cause the engine to reciprocate the pumppistons through a short path, but under a great leverage, so

vthat but little fluid will be pumped, but the pressure iven to thatlittle may be very eat. T e result will be that a very heavy oad,limited only by they strength of the parts of the apparatus, may belifted upon the car at a slow speed. With a lighter load the speed maybe increased by increasing the f when t e Lthe valve length of the pumpston stroke until the Huid is delivered tot e elevator at the fullcapacit of the pump. It isevident that operator pulls the rope 16 toclose 5 0, the car,will stop, and that at the same time the pumpactuating mechanism will be returned to its initial position to take theload oil' the engine. When it is desired to run the car down theoperation is somewhat different, In such a case the hand-rope `isVpulled upto lower the valve pistons so that the pipe 15 is connectedthrough pipe 63 with the pump reservoir. The water in cylinder 14 maythen flow back into the reservoir and the supply tank 60 and allow thecar to descend. The speed at which the car will descend depends upon`the amount that the elevator valve 50is opened. Y

As the pumping apparatus need not be brought intoV action during thedownward movement of the car,I have arranged the parts in the mannershown in Fig. 6 to accomplish this result. When the pistons in the valve50 are in their central position as' shown in this ligure, the ,pins 48are above an imaginary line drawn between the axis of the regulatingShaft 46 and the point at which the connecting rods 49 are connectedwith the segmentalregulating members 41. This makes it possible torotate the disks 4 7 until the pins 48 have assumed the position shownby dotted lines at 48", without shift ing the pump link mechanism enoughto cause the pump to be actuated. But-this movement of the gear 53 isenough to move the piston 58 away from the port to which the pipe 15 isconnccted,.and is therefore enough to allow the elevator to run down -atfull speed.

l have above described a manner in which my invention may be carried outby the use of an internal combustion engine and a reciprocatory pump.Other types of apparatus may be used if desired. In the modificationshown in Fig. 9 an electric motor 70 is shown as the prime mover with arotary pumping apparatus connected therewith. The motorV may be drivenby energy from the mains 71 from a suitable sourceof supply. A switch 72may be arranged to close oropcn the motor circuit. 73 is the motor shaftwhich is directly coupled With a pump shaft 74 as shown. The pumpingapparatus is 'ng 75 which also supports incloscrl by a cas] some of itsparts. Th'ls cas1ng l1s built up of a number of pieces which form aplurality of chambers. Une of these, designated iu the drawings by 7G,forms a reservoir and is connected with the supply tank G0 by the pipe(il, and with the elevator valve 50 by the pipe G3. Another chamber 77forms a pressure tank and is connected with the elevator valve by thepipe 62. The central portion of the casing is built up of sections,

` ranged to euch of which forms a chamber 80 intermediate the reservoirand the. rassure tank. `Each`of Athese intermediate c amberscommunicates with the pressure chamber 77 through aseparate passage'controlled by check-valves 78 which are seated by springs and areprovided with re closely against the sides thereof is a 81 which 1skeyed to the shaft 74. A similar Within each of the chamgear 82 isprovided bers 80. These gears are loosel upon a shaft 83 and are in meshgears 81. All of the gears 81, 82 are ar- `fit closely against the sidesof their respective chambers and against `the top and bottom of thecasing, which is designed to conform with a portion of the peripherie-sof these gears At one side of each of the chambers 80 a passage 84 isprovided. '85 designates .ports from this lpassage into the left-handside of the chambers 80 as viewed in lar ports from the right-hand sideof the chambers 8() into the passa es 84. 87 designates a piston valvecontro ling that passage 84 and its ports which Vcommunicate with theright-hand chamber 80 as shown in Fig. 11, or that which is nearest theengine 20. lt is connected by a rod 88 with a pair of the disks 47, bymeans of which it is eccentrically connected with the regulating shaftSimilar piston valves controllingthe pistons and ports to the other gearchambers are provided and are connected by rods similar to 88 with thecontrolling or regulating shaft 46 by means of disks similar to t'hoseabove pointed nut which, with the connecting pins 48 which pass throughconnecting rods. form a lcontinuation of this regulating shaft. Thepiston valves and their connections are set at diiierent relativepositions seen from the drawings; The

mounted motor at a practically constant 'rate of speed. The gears 81 and82 may be rotated in the directions indicated bythe arrows in Fig. 10.The result will be that the water or other fluid which surrounds thesegears will be circulated from the left-hund side of the chambers 80 tothe right-hand side over the tops of gears 81 and under the bottoms ofgears 82. and back through ports 86, passages 84. and ports 85. Now. ifan operatm' turns the regulating shaft 46 by means of the mechanismpreviously described, the' piston valve 87 will open a connectionbetween lthe reservoir 76 and the first of the chambers 80 through itspassage 84 and vts port 85. The piston valve will at the'same time closethe portl 86 from this first chamber. These operations will take placegradually and as rapidly or slowly as the operator desires. The effectwill be to close the by-pass from thatpart of the chamber 80 latingblocks 79.A W it-hin each of theeham ers 80 and fitting.

with the v arranged to be driven by theV Fig. 10. 86 designates simitoclose its port 86. This passage will be fully opened and the port-fullyclosed when this second piston valve has had sullicient` movement. Inthis same manner the other piston valves may be moved to o n connectionsbetween the reservoir and t eir respective chambers, and to close theirrespective by-passes. When all of these piston valves are open,.it maybe seen that the reservolr 76 is directly connected with the left-handside of all of the chambers and that the liquid therefrom is beingforced by the gears through the check-valves 78 into the pressure tankat the full capacity of all of the pumps. I have shown anddescribed fourunits to this pumping apparatus as this is a convenient number, but, ofcourse, a smaller. or larger number of them may be employed tween thispumping apparatus and the elevator are ythe same as those previouslydescribed. When it is desired to run the car down, the elevator valvemay be opened without shifting the piston valves 87 a suf'- ticientamount to eiiect the operation of the ump. Consequently, the pump willrun idle while the car is at rest, and also during its downwardmovement.

I have described 'diiierent forms of pumping apparatus and of primemovers to show that the invention is not limited to any specie form ofmechanism. The plunger type of elevator is used as an illustration ofthis part of the combinations only because of its simplicity. In Fig. 9the manner in which the counterweight is connected 'with the car isshown. Stop-balls 18 and 19 are usually aixed to thehand-rope 16 whichare arranged to be engaged by the car as it nears the lower or upperlimit of its travel and to be shifted thereby to automatically stop thecar.

Instead of a cylinder and plunger for actuating the car, any other formot' fluid pressure motor desired may be used.

By the simple means herein shown a variable pressure elevator isobtained in which both the amount of Water or other fluid which isadmitted to the elevator cylinder is under direct control of theoperator, and so, also, is the pressure 'at which this fluid isdelivered to the elevator cylinder. The advantages of this are obviousand fill a if desired. The connections be-f 4want in the art, as theseresults have heretofore been accomplished only by complicated andcumbersome apparatus.

What. I claim is.-

1. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulicv motor, areversing valve therefor, a prime mover, intermediate tiuid pressuremeans for transmitting the power ofthe prime mover to the motor, andunitary means for actuating the valve to cause the car to run. in eitherdirection, and for regulating said fluid ressure means whenV the car isrun in one irection.

2. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motor, areversing valve therefor, a prime mover arranged to be run at a constantrate of speed, intermediate fluid pressure means for transmitting thepower of the prime mover to the motor and causing the motor to run thecar in one direction at different speeds at the full capacity of theprime mover, and unitary means for actuating the valve to cause the carto run in either direction and for regulating said fluid pressure meanswhen the car is run in one direction.

' 3. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motorconnected therewith,

a water supply, a reversing valve for the motor, a prune mover, a umpingapparatus driven thereby, said hy rauhe motor being actuated by thewater supply, connections betweenl the valve and the pumping apparatusso arranged that when the valve 1s opened in one direction the pump maybe regulated to deliver the water to the motor at diil'erent rates andat inversely proportional pressures.

4. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motor connectedtherewith, a water supply, a reversing valve for the motor, a primemover, a pumpin apparatus driven thereby, connections etween the valveand the pumping apparatus so arranged that When the valve is opened inone direction the pump may be re ulated to deliver the water to themotor at dilerent lrates and at inversely proportional pressures, andthat when the valve is opened in the other direction the pum ingapparatus is not ail'ected, and manualpmeans for controlling the valvefrom the'car.

5. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motor connectedtherewith, l

a reversing valve for the motor, a prime mover, a reciprocatory pumpdriven thereby, mechanism for varying the length of stroke of the pump,said mechanism being connected With the valve.

6. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motor connectedtherewith, a reversing valve for the motor, a prime mover, areciproeatory pump driven thereby, mechanism. for varying the length ofstroke of the pump, said mechanism being connected with the valve, andso arranged that when the valve is opened in one direction the stroke ofthe pump may be inv creased from its minimum to its maximum` and whenthe valve 'is opened in the other direction the stroke o f the pump willremain at its minimum.

7. The combination in an elevator. of a car, a'hydranlic motor connectedtherewith, a reversing valve for the motor, a prime mover arranged to berun at al substantially constant rate of speed, a pumping apparatuscomprising one or more pump cylinders, a piston within cach cylinder,mechanism connecting said prime mover with' said pistons` said mechanismbeing arranged to vary the length of stroke of said pistons and toinversely vary the pressure applied thereto by the prime mover, aconnection between said valve and said piston controlling mechanism soarranged that when the valve is .opened in one direction the stroke ot'thc pistons may be increased from its minimum to its maximum., and whenthe valve is opened in the other direction the stroke of the pistonswill remain at its minimum.

8. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motor connectedtherewith, a reversing valve for the motor, a prime mover arranged to berun at a substantially constant rate of speed, a pumping apparatuscomprising one or more cylinders. a piston within each cylinder, aneccentric link mechanism connecting said prime mover with said pistons,connections between said mechanism and the valve arranged to vary thelength of the stroke of said pistons from its minimum to its maximum,and to inversely vary the pressure applied thereto by the prime moverupon the valve being opened in one direction, and to permit the valvebeing opened 'in the other direction Without increasing the stroke oft-he pistons from its minimuln, andmanual means for controlling thevalve and the pumping ap paratus from the car.

9. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motor connectedtherewith, a reversing valve for-the motor, an internal combustionengine, a water supply, a power pump driven by the engine and arrangedto circulate said water at dierent. pressures, said hydraulic, motorbeing driven by the water and arranged to be started slowly in onedirection by the pump under high pressure, and unitary manuallycontrolled means for controlling the valve and the pump from the car.

10. The combinationv in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motorconnected therewith, a reversing valve for the motor, an internalcombustion engine, a water supply, a power pump driven by the engineconstructed and arranged to circulate said water at different pressures,said hydraulic motor being actu ated by said Water and arranged to bestarted slowly in one direction by the water from the pump under highpressure, and to be driven at increasing speeds under correspondinglydecreasing pressures, regulating means for the pump mechanicallyconnect-` Alength of stroke of said pistons to inversely vary thepressure applied thereto by the engine, to thereby canse the motor andcar to be run at different rates of speed, a mechanical connectionbetween the valve and the link mechanism, and manual means forcontrolling the valve and rthe pump from,4

the car.

12. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motorconnected therewith, a reversing valve't'or the motor, an internalcombustion engine, a reciprocatory pump, a water supply, said hydraulicmotor being actuated by the water supply, an eccentric link mechanismconnecting said engine and pumpysaid mechanism being arranged to varythe length of strokeof the pump and to inversely vary the pressureapplied to the stroke by the engine to thereby cause the hydraulic motorand the car to run at different. speeds without varying the power of themotor, a water-tight casing inclosing said pump and` connectingmechanism, said casing being arranged to form a reservoir and a pressurechamber for thc water, check 'alves between the pump, the reservoir, andthe pressure chamber, a connection between the reversing valve and thelink mechanism so arranged that when the valve is opened in onedirection thc stroke of the pump may be increased from its minimum toits maximum, and when the valve is opened in the other direction, thestroke of the pump will remain at its maximum, and manual means forcontrolling the valve and the pump from the car.

13. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic motorconnected therewith, a reversing valve for the motor, an internalcombustion engine arranged to be run at a substantially constant rate ofspeed, a pumping apparatus comprising one or more cylinders. a pistonwithin each cylinder, an eccentric .link mechanism connecting saidengine with the pistons, connections between said mechanism and thevalve arranged to vary the length of stroke of said pistons from itsminimum to its maximum, and to inversely vary the pressure appliedthereto by the engine, upon the valve being opened in one direction, andto permitthe valve being opened in the other direction Withoutincreasing, the stroke of the pistons from its minimum, manual means forcontrolling the valve and the pumping apparatus from the car, and meansautomatically actuated by the movement of the car for closing the valveand reducing the stroke of the pum to its minimum when the car nears theen s of its travel.

14. The combination in an elevator, of a car, a hydraulic plunger motorconnected therewith, a reversing hydraulic valve for the motor, aninternal combustion engine, a reciprocatory pump, a supply tank, a watersupply, said hydraulic motor being actuated by the Water supply, aneccentrlc link mechanism connecting said engine and pump, said mechanismbeing arranged to vary the length of stroke of the pump, and toinversely vary the pressure applied to the stroke by the engine tothereby cause the hydraulic motor and the car to run at different speedswithout varying the wer of the motor, a water-tight casing inclosin saidpump and connecting mechanism, sai casing being arran ed to form areservoir and a pressure cham r for the water, checkvalves between thepump, the reservoir, and the pressure chamber, pipe connections betweenthe supply tank, the reservoir and the reversing va ve, a pipeconnection between the pressure chamber and the reversing valve, amechanical connection between the reversing valve and the link mechanismso arranged that when the valve is opened in one direction the stroke ofthe pump ma;r be increased from its minimum to its maximum, and when thevalve is opened in the other direction, the stroke of the pump willremain at its minimum and r'nanual means for controlling the revdrsingvalve and the pump from the car.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES O. PEARSON.

Witnesses:

ELLA TUcH, ERNEST W. MARSHALL.

